18/01/2012

Some thoughts on internet freedom

Unless you have been living under a rock you know why today Wikipedia, Google and other major sites are either blacked out or display messages about the SOPA and PIPA legislations.

Other places will explain better than me why these laws are just plain wrong. This is not about piracy, this is about censorship, about freedom of speech, of equal access to information. If these bills pass things like what we do here will be impossible. User interaction will be almost inexistant. Imagine if your site could be shut down beause someone in the comments section posted an image belonging to whatever corporation. That is not the internet we want. That is putting economic interests before freedom and search for knowledge. And will do nothing against piracy. The only way to effectively combat piracy is to revisit those outdated business models corporations seem to be clinging to.

The internet is a tool without precedents in the history of mankind. It has given people a means to express themselves, to learn, to share and keep in touch with one another. Bad things have come with it, too, and they should be addressed, but not that way. And other threats, like detecting and stopping pedophile networks, should be addressed first.

Wheteher you are in the USA, or, like us are somewhere else, this concerns you.